Rome Civilization the Roman Civilization

Rome Civilization The Roman civilization was created over a great expanse of time, and the reasons for its downfall can be seen throughout its whole existence. There is no one reason, but many, and they are interlinked. But perhaps one can say, in order to sum up everything, that the decline of the Roman world was brought by its own striving to succeed. That it was in a way rotting from the inside, and the more success it had the more it actually planted the seeds of its own destruction.

There are many reasons, but perhaps the one that links everything is war. Because of warfare the Romans could earn more territory and wealth, and their position in the social structure of the city could rise. Their style of live started to become corrupted by the new richness and old values of simplicity and order were exchanged for excesses.

Because of warfare they could spread their culture to other worlds, but also they brought back those civilization to their homes and thus changed the way themselves and their countryman saw the world. They changed the way they saw themselves and the civic roles they had in their world. Over the centuries the Roman world changed from a Republic to an Empire, and values that were once treasured, like the family and the city, were no longer the driving force of the Romans.

War also brought new people from the conquered world and the population migrated, encouraging diversity, but this was another reason for decline, as the cultures mixed even more. War also brought changes in economy, and from an agricultural society of farmers who owned their land it gradually transformed in a society of big landowners and a great majority of city dwellers. The difference between rich and poor grew as the years pasted, and the attempted reforms were never entirely successful.

Thus it is that no one reason can be blamed for Rome's decline. There is more than one, and they don't even root themselves in the same problem, they emerge one from the other, continue or transform themselves. It is this transformation of the world in itself that brought the downfall of the Roman world. The Roman world began with the establishment of the city of Rome, a moment that fuses legend and real history in the story of Romulus and Remus.

This people that became united as a city were all sharing the same views of the world and the same values. These values, according to the historian Pliny, were what made them capable of creating such a great civilization. "The Roman historian Pliny wrote a long history of Rome, in which he wanted to show how the heroic citizens of a small city state the masters of the world. He attributed their success to their upright character.

(...) They were a serious, hardworking people who placed loyalty to family and city above all else. In time, this small group conquered the Italian peninsula, forging a coalition of peoples that enjoyed the benefits of peace and prosperity while relentlessly expanding through military conquest. " (Chapter 4-"Pride in Family and City," pg 117) The strength of the Roman world came from its ability to become not the hated master but the ally and protector of the peoples that they conquered.

They preserved the autonomy of the territory at the same time with exerting their authority and influence. "The peninsula remained a patchwork of diverse states allied to Rome by separate treaties. These treaties were varied, but all were generous to conquered people. (...) as a result of Rome's leadership, the conquered territories at times enjoyed more peace and freedom then they ever had. Rome's sensible policy towards the territories bought the loyalty of many states and created a relatively cohesive unit that would fuel further imperial expansion" (pg.

124) Since Rome's policy was mainly offensive, it relied on its army, and in return the army began to play a higher and higher role in society's structure. "Rome's success derived primarily from its army. Over time, the army began to define the very structure of what was to become an empire."(pg.129) At first Rome's wars were mainly protective of its allies and territory, but soon the desire for enrichment and personal power made them go beyond their territory in the attempt to gain more land and money.

"Rome often marched to protect its allies- waging what they called "just war." At the same time, some Romans were becoming rich in the enterprise, and Roman generals saw this as the way to upward mobility. Now the way to success for an ambitious Roman lay not in impressing his fellow citizens in the Forum, but in leading victorious armies" (pg. 133) The wars brought in not just new land but also new people in the form of slaves.

It brought changes in the economy of the country, and so it brought changes in its social equilibrium and relationships. "Just as the expansion of Rome altered the nature of slavery, it transformed many other aspects of life in the Republic. (...) the Republic was transmuting into something else entirely, even as some Romans mourned it. One of the most noticeable changes came in the form of increasing disparity between rich and poor. (...) Governors of provinces had the opportunity to make fortunes undreamed of in the Republic's early years.

(...) While some Romans amassed great fortunes, others suffered a worsening of their economic situation."(pg. 135) the economy of Rome was once based on land cultivation and property owning, but due to long wars in far away countries, soldiers found themselves returning to find their land sold and their family in poverty. The new landowners that had bought their lands no longer planted cereals, but olives and vines, so Rome began to import its wheat from its newly conquered lands.

"Numerous farmers went bankrupt, and soldiers returned to their homes to find them sold and their wives and children turned out of the family farm. Newly rich men and women eagerly purchased these neglected lands, and small landowners were replaced by large plantations worked by gangs of new slaves" (pg.135) The wars also brought new cultures home, and these began to erode the old style of life of the Romans. "New intellectual influences further modified Rome's traditional value system." (pg.

135) the Greek Hellenism had a great influence on Romans, bringing to their emerging culture the decadence of a much ancient one. "Romans had added an appreciation of Greek beauty to their own practical skills, and they adopted a new love of luxury and power that seemed to erode the moral strength of old Rome" (pg. 137) The economic downfall that the Gracchi reforms (pg.

140-1) were trying to solve brought changes in the political scene and in a way marked the twilight of the Republic, and a period of civil unrest followed: the first Triumvirate was followed by civil war that ended in the rule of Julius Caesar. (pg. 141-3) the unrest was never resolved as the economical and social problems that first produced it were never settled. The political scene changed from ruler to ruler, until finally the Republic changed into an Empire, with its own problems and crises and finality.

"Through these years, the City of Rome was transferred from a center of republican power to a glorification of imperial power" (pg. 156) The thing that is unanimously acknowledged as the cause of the Empire's unity and survival in time was the fact that not only were the Romans influenced by the civilizations they met, but they also exported their own lifestyle and values to the corners of the empire.

In this way, they preserved its unity and structure, and far away zones that took weeks to reach could fend for themselves. (pgt.158) Also, within the land governed by Rome the peace was kept so that commerce could flourish both inland and with other lands. During the time of relative peace of the Empire, the gap between rich and poor magnified, due to a new decadence.

"Although the growing separation between rich and poor that began under the Republic continued through the empire, those getting more wealthy began to flaunt their riches. Silks and embroidery replaced the rough wool of republican virtue." (pg.161) Another problem that the Romans had was one related to childbirth. The number of Romans declined due to a number of reasons: bad information regarding fecundity and childcare, the idea of having fewer successors in order not to divide your wealth among them, and others.

"The causes of Roman infertility lay in a full complex of medical misunderstandings, combined with cultural practices" (pg.162) In this period, emperor became the general with more military support, but this also brought civil and political unrest, because of the continuous fight between candidates to the throne. Sensing the.